Sánchez negotiates for China to open up to high value-added Spanish companies

Pedro Sánchez and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting at the end of last year ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES / Ap-LaPresse fernando h. valls Madrid Pedro Sánchez returns to China, for the fourth consecutive year, on a trip with a markedly economic character that differs this time from the previous three in one aspect. To the recurring objective of rebalancing the trade balance, as imports from the Asian giant continue to be much higher than exports from Spanish companies – the trade deficit grew to 42 billion last year – is now added the mission of trying to open business for high value-added companies. Spanish investment in China is currently concentrated in areas such as automotive, financial services, or machinery. Companies like Santander, BBVA, or Inditex have a presence in the country, where more industrial groups, such as engineering group Técnicas Reunidas or automotive suppliers Antolin, CIE, and Gestamp, also operate. These are, in reality, modest investments if ...